When you're a coach and come from a system that has had success and won ballgames, those are things that you want to bring along with you to your new destination.

In the case of new defensive coordinator Tim Beckman, he left one OSU for another in hopes of seeing the same level of success. After helping guide Ohio State to the BCS National Championship game against Florida last season, he left his position with the Buckeyes as cornerbacks coach for the defensive coordinator post at Oklahoma State. During his stay in Columbus, the Buckeyes record was 22-3.

And while the Cowboys are 1-1 in his first year in Stillwater and the defense hasn't played enough games to really gauge how much they've improved, many believe the mindset on the defensive side of the ball is changing.

Defensive end Marquee Fountain puts it bluntly: Beckman has brought a lot out of himself and other players in his short time at OSU.

"He just has brought the competitor side out of me," Fountain said. "Everything we do is competition. Since the first day he came in, we've been competing against each other. And competition only makes good players. I think that was kind of the thing we lacked last year - we didn't have a lot of competitive players. But you can just tell when you watch, especially on the defensive side, that we have players that are out there trying to make plays.